Bizarre.
Guess who’s not coming to dinner:
Terror suspect gets Bush invite
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer
May 5, 2005, 3:02 PM EDT
HARTFORD, Conn. — A year after FBI and Homeland Security agents raided his home in a terrorism investigation, Muslim businessman Syed Maswood is lucky to get on an airplane without being detained and searched.
But that didn’t stop him from getting an invitation to dine with President Bush.
Maswood, a nuclear engineer who has not been charged with any crime and has been trying for months to get his name off no-fly lists, received an invitation to serve as an honorary chairman at the President’s Dinner, a Republican fundraiser with Bush in Washington next month.
A Republican who has donated money over the years to GOP campaigns, Maswood said he briefly considered attending but his wife refused to fly. The last time they were in Washington, he said, they were held for hours at the airport.
Questions:
1. If this guy is a funder of terrorists, what’s the GOP doing asking him to co-chair a fundraiser?
2. If he’s not, what’s he doing on the no-fly list?
3. If he’s not, and he has been wrongly placed on the no-fly list by the Bush Administration’s Department of Homeland Security, why was he willing to consider accepting? Did he figure kicking in might get his name off the list faster?
Of course, this is a routine left-hand, right-hand story. But that doesn’t mean the Democrats shouldn’t pursue it.